Duff McKagan: Appetite For Construction

During his mid-’80s gig as
bassist for Guns N’ Roses,
Duff McKagan was celebrated
as much for his propulsive bass
lines as for his fondness for
chemically altered states. But a
decade later, his pancreas was
“the size of a football” and he
faced a choice familiar to rock
stars: sober up or die. McKagan
not only opted for the former,
he went to business school—in
part so he could decipher all
his puzzling royalty statements.
Today, McKagan heads his
own wealth-management firm
for musicians, Meridian Rock,
about which he’s cagey. “Is it
cool if I keep that separate?” he
asks. “I’ve got lawyers to answer
if I say the wrong thing.”
Suffice it to say, he recently
spoke at SXSW about not getting
screwed in the music biz
(listen to it at SXSW.com), and
he also writes weekly columns
for Seattle Weekly and ESPN.com (he previously wrote a
financial column for Playboy
Online called “Duffonomics”).

But McKagan never abandoned
rock ’n’ roll. In 1995,
he worked with his iconic fellow
GN’R alum on the Slash’s
Snakepit project. And in the
late ’90s he and the Top Hatted
One formed supergroup Velvet
Revolver with former GN’R
drummer Matt Sorum, guitarist
Dave Kushner, and Stone
Temple Pilots vocalist Scott
Weiland. One of McKagan’s
longest-running projects is
his band Loaded, the original
1999 lineup of which included
guitarists Dez Cadena (formerly
of Black Flag) and Michael
Barragan (Plexi), and drummer
Taz Bentley (Reverend Horton
Heat). These days, McKagan
plays mostly rhythm guitar
and sings. He is joined by lead
guitarist Mike Squires, bassist
Jeff Rouse, and drummer Isaac
Carpenter. Loaded’s latest album,
The Taking, is filled with crushing
guitar parts and monster bass
lines that have been given a particularly
hot treatment by producer
Terry Date, who’s famous
for his work with Soundgarden.
“We couldn’t have made the
record without Terry’s genius
ear,” says McKagan, whom we
found to be a highly animated
and affable guy as he spoke
about the concept behind the
record, as well as its execution.

You’re best known for your
bass-playing Guns N’ Roses
years, but you’re mostly playing
guitar on The Taking.
What’s your background on
the 6-string?

I’ve always played both guitar
and bass. My earliest influences
on the guitar were punk-rock
based, guys like Steve Jones
from the Sex Pistols and Johnny
Thunders—players that weren’t
technical and had a raw, brutal
approach to the instrument.
Later, I learned a lot from playing
with Izzy [Stradlin, formerly
of Guns N’ Roses]. He’s really
one of the best rhythm players
out there, and he has always had
such an incredible feel. He can
really lock into a groove like no
other. I just sort of picked up
bits and pieces from all of those
guys, and everything made its
way into my own sound.

Did you play any bass on
the record?

Yeah. Jeff, Mike, and I actually all
sort of switched around instruments
at certain points, and our
drummer, Isaac, is also a great
guitar player—one of those rare
musicians who just kind of plays
everything better than anyone else.
I played bass on one song, “Easier
Lying,” and guitar on the rest of
the record. Isaac recorded all the
guitars on “Wrecking Ball,” and
Mike, our lead player, was a genius
all over this record. It’s really great
to be in a band with a guitarist
about whom you’re, like, “Dude,
you’re the best in the world.”

Can you elaborate on Squires’
genius?

Mike fights his guitar—really
gets into a battle with that
hunk of metal and wood. He
puts himself in uncomfortable
positions—I think he likes a bit
of pain—and takes risks in his
playing. He never takes the easy
way out and will often bend a
string to find a note, even when
it’s impractical to do so, rather
than just playing it straight.
This makes him sound super
expressive. Mike’s just a magical
player, in my opinion.

Give us a rundown of the guitars
you use both on and off
the album.

I have some really great older
guitars that I don’t want to
talk about because I don’t
want people to know I’ve got
them—they’re just too valuable.
Let’s just say that I have some
than me that I pull out from
time to time for my own enjoyment,
and I also have a ’73 Les
Paul Custom, which is less valuable
but still a great guitar. In
terms of more recent Gibsons,
I have a two-pickup SG from
2008 and a three-pickup version
custom made for me in 1988. I
don’t play the three-pickup one
much—having had it since the
GN’R days, it’s just too precious
and sentimental for me.

For recording and touring,
I have a Burny Les Paul copy
made in Japan, and I just love
it. I actually have two—a black
one and a goldtop—that I got
around 2001. They’re not very
expensive, so I don’t have to
worry about them getting broken
or stolen, and they sound really
killer and aggressive—perfect
for my style. In the same vein,
I also have a Les Paul copy
made by Sparrow, a really cool
company in Canada. I’ve also
been using a recent Fender Jim
Root Telecaster, the signature
model of the Slipknot guitarist,
for recording and performing.
I yanked out that Tele’s stock
active electronics and threw some
Seymour Duncans in there. The
combination of the mahogany
body and the Duncans gives the
Tele a warm sound with a great
growl. Also, the guitar only has
one knob—Volume. I love the
simplicity of that: I don’t need
anything more to fuss with when
I’m singing and playing rhythm
guitar at the same time.

Adam Perlmutter is a freelance writer, transcriber, and engraver living in Culver City, California. He contributes to Premier Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Guitar Aficionado, and other music magazines, and has written a number of instructional books, including Color Your Chords (Cherry Lane) and Jim Hall: Signature Licks (Hal Leonard).

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